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Saving files to dropbox and box

V

vistadude

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 3, 2010
1,423
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I searched this on the forum but couldn't find anything. I want to save old versions of iphone apps on dropbox and box. I downloaded both apps on my mac and sent my iphone apps to the synced folder. Now I want to remove the local copies from my mac. How do I do this without deleting the files from the cloud? Also, since iphone apps have drm, if I redownload them from dropbox or box, will I be able to install them to my iphone?


Thanks.
 
T

tshort

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2007
160
11
The DropBox cloud mirrors the DropBox directory on your PC. If you delete it from one place, it gets deleted in all the others. The only way to do this is to uninstall DropBox from your PC/Mac, and then delete the DropBox directory. That will leave the DropBox cloud alone.

I have not tried it, but I assume if you put the apps back in their proper locations within the iTunes directory, they will be able to re-install.

However, I have to ask "Why"? Are you trying to keep old versions around? You can always re-download purchased apps from the AppStore, you don't need to keep a local copy.
 
V

vistadude

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 3, 2010
1,423
1
Sometimes old versions of apps work better than new versions, especially with old hardware.

Although I'm starting with iphone apps, I intend to move other files to the cloud, such as old pictures, as my mac is always low on space and syncing with external hard disks is getting inconvenient.
 
HazyCloud

HazyCloud

macrumors 68030
Jun 30, 2010
2,779
37
tshort said:
However, I have to ask "Why"? Are you trying to keep old versions around? You can always re-download purchased apps from the AppStore, you don't need to keep a local copy.
Click to expand...

While you can always re-download apps, it's not wise to rely on the iTunes Store to keep them around. If your app gets pulled from the store, like VLC, you won't be able to re-download it.

On top of that, there's been plenty of times that updates cause more harm than good and you may want to sync version X back on there instead of the updated version Y.

If anything, you DO need to keep local copies. While I don't sync with iTunes at all, I have copies of all of my apps.
 
V

vistadude

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 3, 2010
1,423
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Ok I verified if you upload an app to box, then delete it from your iphone and itunes, and re-download it from box to itunes, you can install it back to your phone.

And to send files through sync and delete when finished, sync all the files, then remove sync in box from the website. Upon the next sync, which is nearly immediate, it will keep the files on box online and put the local copies in the trash, which you can delete to recover space.

Note that downloading anything from box is slow and tedious, icloud and itunes is a better backup method, but for the one or two apps that you might want to revert to an old version or are no longer on itunes, box works pretty well.
 
F

flynz4

macrumors 68040
Aug 9, 2009
3,244
127
Portland, OR
HazyCloud said:
While you can always re-download apps, it's not wise to rely on the iTunes Store to keep them around. If your app gets pulled from the store, like VLC, you won't be able to re-download it.

On top of that, there's been plenty of times that updates cause more harm than good and you may want to sync version X back on there instead of the updated version Y.

If anything, you DO need to keep local copies. While I don't sync with iTunes at all, I have copies of all of my apps.
Click to expand...

I don't understand... why not restore from backup if you want your old versions of apps?

/Jim
 
HazyCloud

HazyCloud

macrumors 68030
Jun 30, 2010
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flynz4 said:
I don't understand... why not restore from backup if you want your old versions of apps?

/Jim
Click to expand...


If you use iTunes for backups then that would work. If you're using iCloud, it would not as apps are downloaded from the store to your device during the restore.
 
F

flynz4

macrumors 68040
Aug 9, 2009
3,244
127
Portland, OR
HazyCloud said:
If you use iTunes for backups then that would work. If you're using iCloud, it would not as apps are downloaded from the store to your device during the restore.
Click to expand...

OK... I've continued using my iMac... although I do generally update apps every day directly on my devices.

My iMac still downloads the updates as well... whenever I connect.

/Jim
 
HazyCloud

HazyCloud

macrumors 68030
Jun 30, 2010
2,779
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flynz4 said:
OK... I've continued using my iMac... although I do generally update apps every day directly on my devices.

My iMac still downloads the updates as well... whenever I connect.

/Jim
Click to expand...

Yes, but your old apps, if needed, are in your Trash bin. And you don't need to connect for your apps to update. They can be done through iTunes.

If you regularly deleted your local copies, you wouldn't have any to fall back on if you needed them. While I don't use iTunes for apps at all, I'll always keep my apps just in case.
 
F

flynz4

macrumors 68040
Aug 9, 2009
3,244
127
Portland, OR
HazyCloud said:
Yes, but your old apps, if needed, are in your Trash bin. And you don't need to connect for your apps to update. They can be done through iTunes.

If you regularly deleted your local copies, you wouldn't have any to fall back on if you needed them. While I don't use iTunes for apps at all, I'll always keep my apps just in case.
Click to expand...

This is exactly my point. You do not need to explicitly save the old copies. They are continuously being backed up so you can always go back to earlier versions if you want. That is the whole point of having a robust backup system.

I personally back up every hour via Time Machine... and every 15 minutes via Crashplan+.

I just do not understand this whole idea of using dropbox to back up your apps unless you do not have a backup plan in place... in which case, that is your real problem.

/Jim
 
HazyCloud

HazyCloud

macrumors 68030
Jun 30, 2010
2,779
37
flynz4 said:
This is exactly my point. You do not need to explicitly save the old copies. They are continuously being backed up so you can always go back to earlier versions if you want. That is the whole point of having a robust backup system.

I personally back up every hour via Time Machine... and every 15 minutes via Crashplan+.

I just do not understand this whole idea of using dropbox to back up your apps unless you do not have a backup plan in place... in which case, that is your real problem.

/Jim
Click to expand...

We're on the same page. Not everyone though uses TC and CP+ like you and I. If someone doesn't have a backup solution, keeping you local copies is a must. Therefor Dropbox could be perfect for that.

And I agree, if you don't have a backup solution that is the real issue.
 
V

vistadude

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 3, 2010
1,423
1
Well it depends what your backup strategy is. I make local backups of pictures, documents, and programs which i have purchased. I currently back up my iphone and ipad apps but am running out of space on my notebook just to hold them (10-20 gb for all apps, but really 20-30 gb given there are extra copies) and most of the time, those apps just sit there and do nothing. So I could either buy a bigger laptop hard disk or yet another external hard disk (i already have 3) and pay about $200, or just send it up to a cloud service for free. Also when you sync and itunes sends old versions of your apps to the trash, they typically sit in the trash for a week or two, which is enough time to see if I want to revert back to old versions. So cloud storage works pretty well for iphone apps. If I need one or two old apps, I can easily download them while I'm on travel.



flynz4 said:
This is exactly my point. You do not need to explicitly save the old copies. They are continuously being backed up so you can always go back to earlier versions if you want. That is the whole point of having a robust backup system.

I personally back up every hour via Time Machine... and every 15 minutes via Crashplan+.

I just do not understand this whole idea of using dropbox to back up your apps unless you do not have a backup plan in place... in which case, that is your real problem.

/Jim
Click to expand...
 
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